"This winter season, we believe that all the combined market forces (slightly warmer than normal weather, stagnant economic growth, moderate growth in overall demand, near record storage levels and a healthy supply) will cause flat price pressure on the gas market compared to last winter," said NGSA Chairman Patrick J. Kuntz, who also is vice-president of gas and oil sales at Marathon Oil Co.
He said US gas production is expected to be nearly 8% higher this winter than a year earlier, based on an independent analysis by ICF International of Fairfax, Va., which NGSA commissioned. "Explorers and developers responded to the market signals, and companies are producing more domestic gas. Current production rates are at their highest level since the early to mid-1970s," Kuntz told reporters at a briefing.
Technology also is playing a significant role, he continued. "Much of our increase in domestic gas production is coming from unconventional plays where technological advances have unlocked the resource. Horizontal drilling is another big advance that allows more gas to be produced from a single well," he said.
NGSA forecasts that 31,530 wells will be completed during the 2008-09 heating season, 753 or 2.4% more than the 30,777 completions during the same period a year earlier. Average production is expected to climb 7.9% year-to-year to 57.5 bcfd from 53.3 bcfd, while the annual average rig count is expected to rise 4.4% to 1,535 from 1,470.
Sep 17, 2008
Stronger LNG prices
Qatargas chairman and CEO Faisal al-Suwaidi has forecasted stronger price levels as well as demand in the Atlantic Basin.
“Qatar sees much of the new growth potential in the Atlantic Basin and has executed strategies to develop secure markets there,” al-Suwaidi said. “Achieving these objectives required investing billions in terminals and ships to access the deep liquid markets of the northwest Europe and the US. This investment ensures sufficient market capacity for the new large trains.
“By 2010 over 120mn tonnes of LNG could be targeting the Atlantic Basin and there should be over 200mn tonnes of terminal capacity waiting for it. So what we see is solid growth in LNG demand in all markets and sufficient production, ships and terminals to deliver it where it is needed the most.”
While declining to discuss specific price ranges, al-Suwaidi added that “We see that gas is deeply discounted in the Atlantic Basin relative to oil on an equivalent energy basis, and hope to see prices strengthen relative to oil in the coming years.”
Sitting on 900tn cu ft of gas reserves, the third largest reserves in the world, Qatar has invested billions in its infrastructure to ensure that it can meet its ambitious goals for exporting LNG to Asia, Europe and North America.
Al-Suwaidi is positive about LNG growth for the future. “Eight new LNG trains around the world will come into production increasing capacity by some 20%,” he said. “This new capacity is meeting customers in Asia and the Atlantic Basin ready for the gas. This expansion will continue, albeit at a slightly slower pace, and likely to average over 10% per annum growth through the end of the decade.”
“Qatar sees much of the new growth potential in the Atlantic Basin and has executed strategies to develop secure markets there,” al-Suwaidi said. “Achieving these objectives required investing billions in terminals and ships to access the deep liquid markets of the northwest Europe and the US. This investment ensures sufficient market capacity for the new large trains.
“By 2010 over 120mn tonnes of LNG could be targeting the Atlantic Basin and there should be over 200mn tonnes of terminal capacity waiting for it. So what we see is solid growth in LNG demand in all markets and sufficient production, ships and terminals to deliver it where it is needed the most.”
While declining to discuss specific price ranges, al-Suwaidi added that “We see that gas is deeply discounted in the Atlantic Basin relative to oil on an equivalent energy basis, and hope to see prices strengthen relative to oil in the coming years.”
Sitting on 900tn cu ft of gas reserves, the third largest reserves in the world, Qatar has invested billions in its infrastructure to ensure that it can meet its ambitious goals for exporting LNG to Asia, Europe and North America.
Al-Suwaidi is positive about LNG growth for the future. “Eight new LNG trains around the world will come into production increasing capacity by some 20%,” he said. “This new capacity is meeting customers in Asia and the Atlantic Basin ready for the gas. This expansion will continue, albeit at a slightly slower pace, and likely to average over 10% per annum growth through the end of the decade.”
Jul 12, 2008
LNG News Headlines - July 7 -12, 2008
Samsung signs up Kanfa for first floating LNG vessel
Sevan Marine subsidiary Kanfa Aragon AS today signed a Letter of Intent with Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. in Korea for the development of a liquefied natural gas production topside to the world's first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) production vessel.
The FLNG topside will be based on Kanfa's liquefaction technology. Kanfa's scope of work includes the design and engineering of the liquefaction plant as well as procurement of major equipment items. The contract value is estimated at approximately US$200 million.
The vessel will be owned and operated by FLEXLNG and will be ready for operation late 2011. The vessel will have a gas processing and liquefaction topside with an LNG capacity of approximately 1.7 million metric tons (15. million tonnes) per annum LNG.
Sevan Marine wins $200 mln LNG vessel project
Norway's Sevan Marine said on it had won a $200 million deal from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co (010140.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) to supply its technology for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production vessel.
The topside production equipment for the vessel will be based on liquefaction technology developed by Sevan's Kanfa Aragon AS subsidiary, Sevan Marine ASA said in a statement.
"Kanfa Aragon's scope of work includes the design and engineering of the liquefaction plant as well as procurement of major equipment items," Sevan Marine said.
"The contract value is estimated at approximately $200 million," Sevan said.
The vessel will be ready for operation in late 2011, it said.
Argentina Imports Third LNG Cargo as Bolivia Cuts Supply
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina may receive its third cargo of liquefied natural gas for delivery this month at Excelerate Energy LLC's Bahia Blanca GasPort terminal amid reduced gas supplies from neighboring Bolivia.
The Madrid Spirit, a 138,000 cubic-meter tanker, set sail from Idku terminal in Egypt carrying a cargo from the North African country and will reach Argentina on July 28, AISlive data on Bloomberg show. BG Group Plc and Gaz De France market Idku's output, according to World LNG Review 2008 published by U.S. Energy Intelligence Research.
Bolivia currently is sending about 2 million cubic meters of gas of day to Argentina, 26 percent of the 7.7 million cubic meters it agreed to sell in 2006, ABI reported, citing Energy Minister Carlos Villegas.
The first two LNG cargoes into Argentina came from Trinidad and Tobago in May and June, the ship tracking data showed, where BP Plc and partners produce LNG, natural gas that's been chilled into a liquid to be shipped on specialist tankers,
Argentina faces energy shortages after price caps curtailed investments and economic growth increased demand. The government rationed power to the country's biggest industrial companies last year after the coldest winter in about eight decades.
StatoilHydro says Snoehvit LNG restarted
Norway's StatoilHydro restarted production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Snoehvit field in the Arctic on Thursday and the plant is now operating at 60 percent of capacity, the company said on Friday. The LNG plant at Hammerfest on the shores of the Barents Sea has been beset by teething problems since its start up in late 2007.
Samsung Heavy completes construction of worlds no. 1 LNG tanker
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. of South Korea, the world's second-largest shipyard, said Friday it has completed building the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker.
Mozah, the name of the 266,000-cubic-meter tanker, will be transferred to Qatar in August, and supply gas to the United States and Europe, said Samsung.
Samsung Heavy Industries won the 290 million U.S. dollar contract to build the LNG tanker in March 2006, the then largest-ever contract, the company said.
Samsung said by 2010 it plans to deliver 10 additional LNG tankers of the same size to Qatar.
Spice Energy to import LNG from Indonesia
NEW DELHI: Spice Energy will import LNG from Indonesia at its proposed $400 million import terminal in Haldia while its unit Cals Refineries has signed a deal with oil major BP plc to source up to five million tonnes a year of crude oil for its $1.1 billion refinery in the same city.
“We have signed a framework agreement with Indonesian State-run firm Pertamina for sourcing liquefied natural gas for the Haldia import and re-gassification facility we plan to set up by 2011,” Spice Energy CEO Ravi Chilukuri told PTI.
Spice Energy is setting up a 2.5 million tonnes facility that would sell gas to fertilizer plants in West Bengal.
In the same port city, Cals Refineries, the Bombay Stock Exchange listed firm, where Spice Energy promoters hold just under 15 per cent stake, is relocating a five million tonne refinery from Germany by the first quarter of 2010. It has also got BP to commit 2.5 million tonnes a year of heavy crude and a similar quantity of light crude for the refinery. He said Spice had also signed a deal with Indonesian miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk to buy six million tonnes of coal a year for 20 years from 2011. — PTI
Chevron to triple size of Australia LNG project
U.S. energy firm Chevron Corp plans to triple the production capacity of its proposed Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off western Australia to 15 million tonnes a year, the firm said.
Chevron said expansion plans for the project came after it found a significant gas extension at its Iago gas field, which lies adjacent to its Wheatstone gas field in western Australia.
Chevron, which is also the operator of the proposed Gorgon LNG project in the same region, said it was now looking at combining the resources in the Wheatstone and Iago fields into a single project with three processing units.
"We've now got enough gas to support a multi-train development and we're also looking at the option of bringing in third-party gas," Chevron's spokeswoman Nicole Hodgson said.
The Wheatstone LNG project, which will also supply Australian markets as well as exports, is expected to enter the front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage in 2009, she said.
Italy sets new tariffs for LNG terminal use
Italy's energy regulator has updated the tariffs for the use of LNG terminals in the country from October 2008 to September 2012.
The Authority for Electricity and Gas has set the tariffs to allow for a rate of return (WACC) on Regulatory Asset Base equal to 7.6 percent in real terms before tax, according to Snam Rete Gas, Italy's gas network operator.
"Furthermore, it is established an additional remuneration, up to 3 percent above WACC, for new capex for a maximum of 16 years period," it said in a statement on Thursday.
The operational costs will be adjusted every year taking into account inflation and efficiency gains set by the regulator equal to 0.5 percent in real terms, it said.
"The regulation for the next period guarantees a substantial stability leveraging on principles of continuity and coherence with the objective of providing incentives for development capex," Snam Rete Gas Chief Executive Carlo Malacarne said in the statement.
The planned expansion will bring the total capacity of Chevron-operated LNG projects in Australia, Wheatstone and Gorgon, to 30 million tonnes a year.
Sevan Marine subsidiary Kanfa Aragon AS today signed a Letter of Intent with Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. in Korea for the development of a liquefied natural gas production topside to the world's first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) production vessel.
The FLNG topside will be based on Kanfa's liquefaction technology. Kanfa's scope of work includes the design and engineering of the liquefaction plant as well as procurement of major equipment items. The contract value is estimated at approximately US$200 million.
The vessel will be owned and operated by FLEXLNG and will be ready for operation late 2011. The vessel will have a gas processing and liquefaction topside with an LNG capacity of approximately 1.7 million metric tons (15. million tonnes) per annum LNG.
Sevan Marine wins $200 mln LNG vessel project
Norway's Sevan Marine said on it had won a $200 million deal from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co (010140.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) to supply its technology for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production vessel.
The topside production equipment for the vessel will be based on liquefaction technology developed by Sevan's Kanfa Aragon AS subsidiary, Sevan Marine ASA said in a statement.
"Kanfa Aragon's scope of work includes the design and engineering of the liquefaction plant as well as procurement of major equipment items," Sevan Marine said.
"The contract value is estimated at approximately $200 million," Sevan said.
The vessel will be ready for operation in late 2011, it said.
Argentina Imports Third LNG Cargo as Bolivia Cuts Supply
July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina may receive its third cargo of liquefied natural gas for delivery this month at Excelerate Energy LLC's Bahia Blanca GasPort terminal amid reduced gas supplies from neighboring Bolivia.
The Madrid Spirit, a 138,000 cubic-meter tanker, set sail from Idku terminal in Egypt carrying a cargo from the North African country and will reach Argentina on July 28, AISlive data on Bloomberg show. BG Group Plc and Gaz De France market Idku's output, according to World LNG Review 2008 published by U.S. Energy Intelligence Research.
Bolivia currently is sending about 2 million cubic meters of gas of day to Argentina, 26 percent of the 7.7 million cubic meters it agreed to sell in 2006, ABI reported, citing Energy Minister Carlos Villegas.
The first two LNG cargoes into Argentina came from Trinidad and Tobago in May and June, the ship tracking data showed, where BP Plc and partners produce LNG, natural gas that's been chilled into a liquid to be shipped on specialist tankers,
Argentina faces energy shortages after price caps curtailed investments and economic growth increased demand. The government rationed power to the country's biggest industrial companies last year after the coldest winter in about eight decades.
StatoilHydro says Snoehvit LNG restarted
Norway's StatoilHydro restarted production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Snoehvit field in the Arctic on Thursday and the plant is now operating at 60 percent of capacity, the company said on Friday. The LNG plant at Hammerfest on the shores of the Barents Sea has been beset by teething problems since its start up in late 2007.
Samsung Heavy completes construction of worlds no. 1 LNG tanker
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. of South Korea, the world's second-largest shipyard, said Friday it has completed building the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker.
Mozah, the name of the 266,000-cubic-meter tanker, will be transferred to Qatar in August, and supply gas to the United States and Europe, said Samsung.
Samsung Heavy Industries won the 290 million U.S. dollar contract to build the LNG tanker in March 2006, the then largest-ever contract, the company said.
Samsung said by 2010 it plans to deliver 10 additional LNG tankers of the same size to Qatar.
Spice Energy to import LNG from Indonesia
NEW DELHI: Spice Energy will import LNG from Indonesia at its proposed $400 million import terminal in Haldia while its unit Cals Refineries has signed a deal with oil major BP plc to source up to five million tonnes a year of crude oil for its $1.1 billion refinery in the same city.
“We have signed a framework agreement with Indonesian State-run firm Pertamina for sourcing liquefied natural gas for the Haldia import and re-gassification facility we plan to set up by 2011,” Spice Energy CEO Ravi Chilukuri told PTI.
Spice Energy is setting up a 2.5 million tonnes facility that would sell gas to fertilizer plants in West Bengal.
In the same port city, Cals Refineries, the Bombay Stock Exchange listed firm, where Spice Energy promoters hold just under 15 per cent stake, is relocating a five million tonne refinery from Germany by the first quarter of 2010. It has also got BP to commit 2.5 million tonnes a year of heavy crude and a similar quantity of light crude for the refinery. He said Spice had also signed a deal with Indonesian miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk to buy six million tonnes of coal a year for 20 years from 2011. — PTI
Chevron to triple size of Australia LNG project
U.S. energy firm Chevron Corp plans to triple the production capacity of its proposed Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off western Australia to 15 million tonnes a year, the firm said.
Chevron said expansion plans for the project came after it found a significant gas extension at its Iago gas field, which lies adjacent to its Wheatstone gas field in western Australia.
Chevron, which is also the operator of the proposed Gorgon LNG project in the same region, said it was now looking at combining the resources in the Wheatstone and Iago fields into a single project with three processing units.
"We've now got enough gas to support a multi-train development and we're also looking at the option of bringing in third-party gas," Chevron's spokeswoman Nicole Hodgson said.
The Wheatstone LNG project, which will also supply Australian markets as well as exports, is expected to enter the front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage in 2009, she said.
Italy sets new tariffs for LNG terminal use
Italy's energy regulator has updated the tariffs for the use of LNG terminals in the country from October 2008 to September 2012.
The Authority for Electricity and Gas has set the tariffs to allow for a rate of return (WACC) on Regulatory Asset Base equal to 7.6 percent in real terms before tax, according to Snam Rete Gas, Italy's gas network operator.
"Furthermore, it is established an additional remuneration, up to 3 percent above WACC, for new capex for a maximum of 16 years period," it said in a statement on Thursday.
The operational costs will be adjusted every year taking into account inflation and efficiency gains set by the regulator equal to 0.5 percent in real terms, it said.
"The regulation for the next period guarantees a substantial stability leveraging on principles of continuity and coherence with the objective of providing incentives for development capex," Snam Rete Gas Chief Executive Carlo Malacarne said in the statement.
The planned expansion will bring the total capacity of Chevron-operated LNG projects in Australia, Wheatstone and Gorgon, to 30 million tonnes a year.
Jul 2, 2008
LNG News Updates
Iberdrola Signs $100 Million LNG Supply Contract With Gasnor
1 July 2008: Spanish energy major Iberdrola and Norway-based Gasnor have signed a liquefied natural gas supply contract worth about $100 million, pursuant to which Iberdrola will supply LNG from its regasification plant at Huelva, Spain.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be shipped in a new 7,500 cubic meter (cbm) capacity cargo vessel, which Gasnor will put into operation in the first half of 2009.
The contract is expected to allow Gasnor to meet increasing demand in Scandinavia, which is exceeding production capacity at its three liquefaction plants on the west coast of Norway.
The LNG supplies from Iberdrola reportedly represent an effective back up for production, and will help Gasnor meet supply contracts with its customers.
ExxonMobil Joint Ventures to Outpace Industry in New LNG Capacity
Joint ventures in Qatar in which Exxon Mobil Corporation participates will start up projects over the next two years that will bring more liquefied natural gas to market than any other international oil company, Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer, said .
Speaking at the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Mr. Tillerson outlined the challenge of supplying growing energy needs while minimizing the impact on the environment.
“New energy technologies for energy supply, such as those enabling an increase in world LNG supplies, together with technologies to improve energy efficiency, will be critical in meeting the world’s energy challenge,” Mr. Tillerson said.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080701005909&newsLang=en
Qld Gas increases LNG project reserves
Queensland Gas Company Ltd (QGC) has defined more than a third of the required gas reserves it needs for a proposed $8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) development with BG Group Plc.
The coal seam gas producer has increased its proven and probable (2P) reserves in the Surat Basin in Queensland to 2,415 petajoules (PJ) after final confirmation by independent certifiers Netherland, Sewell & Associates.
QGC is targeting more than 7,000 PJ of 2P gas reserves to support a planned LNG plant at Gladstone on the Queensland coast.
Kawasaki Heavy Ship Unit Delivers LNG Carrier to Mitsui O.S.K.
June 30 - Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's second-largest maker of heavy machinery, delivered a liquefied natural gas carrier to joint owners Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Tokyo-LNG Tanker Co.
Unit Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corp. built the Mmoss-type LNG vessel that can carry 147,558 cubic meters of gas, Kobe, Japan- based Kawasaki Heavy said today in a faxed statement, without disclosing the value of the contract. Tokyo-based Mitsui O.S.K. will operate the vessel.
Fed official rules against Fall River LNG terminal
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has decided a Massachusetts agency acted correctly when it objected to plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River.
In a decision Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez ruled that the project’s potential benefit to the nation would not outweigh the possible effects on the coastline.
Gutierrez also said that while the project would increase New England’s access to LNG, Coast Guard officials are not convinced LNG tankers could safely navigate a nearby bridge.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who’s against the project, called the developers’ appeal an attempt to circumvent the state.
A spokesman for Weaver’s Cove says the developers expect to file a new application with the state.
Iran, Poland to sign 2-billion-dollar LNG contract
Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC)and Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) are about to sign a 2-billion-U.S.-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract, local daily Tehran Times reported Sunday.
"Recently Poland requested to invest in Lavan gas field whose volume of gas-in-place is around 10 trillion cubic feet (TCF)," IOOC managing director Mahmoud Zirakchian Zadeh was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"The Polish side has declared its readiness to invest in Persian Gulf's Lavan gas field development plan to export the produced LNG gas to Poland," he added.
Zadeh said that the contract will most probably be finalized.
Poland, which depends on Russia for 48 percent of its gas imports, has made diversification of supply a priority.
In recent months, PGNiG signed several deals that could allow it to import gas from countries such as Libya and Denmark.
Essar plans terminal for LNG and container cargo at West Coast
Live Mint reported that Essar Group is planning to expand its logistics business by building a port terminal for liquefied natural gas and a container cargo facility as well as freight stations and depots under its arm Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited.
The report cited an Essar official as saying that "We are planning to build a port terminal for LNG handling and storage. The group is looking at setting up this facility in the west coast."
He added that expanding into LNG would be a logical extension of the group’s existing port business.
Essar has a port and terminal facility at Vadinar in Gujarat providing handling, storage and terminalling services for crude oil and petroleum products to refineries and traders. It is also setting up a 30 million tonnes per annum all weather port and jetty at Hazira in Gujarat for import of iron ore, pellets, coal, limestone and export of finished steel products. It also proposes to build an integrated terminal at Salaya for handling coal and pet coke used in power plants.
Petrobras and PDVSA make headway on LNG agreement
Brazilian national oil company Petrobras and Venezuelan national company PDVSA have signed agreements committing to negotiate commercial terms for the purchase and sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied by PDVSA.
The agreements set the basis for negotiation between the two companies for future LNG supply agreements. The product will be supplied by two liquefaction units, Tren 1 and Tren 2, that will be built in the Complejo Industrial Gran Mariscal de Ayacuchho in Venezuela.
Petrobras and PDVSA also made progress in the definition of the shareholder agreement and the articles of incorporation for a company that will be incorporated to build and operate the Abreu e Lima refinery in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil.
1 July 2008: Spanish energy major Iberdrola and Norway-based Gasnor have signed a liquefied natural gas supply contract worth about $100 million, pursuant to which Iberdrola will supply LNG from its regasification plant at Huelva, Spain.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be shipped in a new 7,500 cubic meter (cbm) capacity cargo vessel, which Gasnor will put into operation in the first half of 2009.
The contract is expected to allow Gasnor to meet increasing demand in Scandinavia, which is exceeding production capacity at its three liquefaction plants on the west coast of Norway.
The LNG supplies from Iberdrola reportedly represent an effective back up for production, and will help Gasnor meet supply contracts with its customers.
ExxonMobil Joint Ventures to Outpace Industry in New LNG Capacity
Joint ventures in Qatar in which Exxon Mobil Corporation participates will start up projects over the next two years that will bring more liquefied natural gas to market than any other international oil company, Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer, said .
Speaking at the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid, Mr. Tillerson outlined the challenge of supplying growing energy needs while minimizing the impact on the environment.
“New energy technologies for energy supply, such as those enabling an increase in world LNG supplies, together with technologies to improve energy efficiency, will be critical in meeting the world’s energy challenge,” Mr. Tillerson said.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080701005909&newsLang=en
Qld Gas increases LNG project reserves
Queensland Gas Company Ltd (QGC) has defined more than a third of the required gas reserves it needs for a proposed $8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) development with BG Group Plc.
The coal seam gas producer has increased its proven and probable (2P) reserves in the Surat Basin in Queensland to 2,415 petajoules (PJ) after final confirmation by independent certifiers Netherland, Sewell & Associates.
QGC is targeting more than 7,000 PJ of 2P gas reserves to support a planned LNG plant at Gladstone on the Queensland coast.
Kawasaki Heavy Ship Unit Delivers LNG Carrier to Mitsui O.S.K.
June 30 - Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's second-largest maker of heavy machinery, delivered a liquefied natural gas carrier to joint owners Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Tokyo-LNG Tanker Co.
Unit Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corp. built the Mmoss-type LNG vessel that can carry 147,558 cubic meters of gas, Kobe, Japan- based Kawasaki Heavy said today in a faxed statement, without disclosing the value of the contract. Tokyo-based Mitsui O.S.K. will operate the vessel.
Fed official rules against Fall River LNG terminal
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce has decided a Massachusetts agency acted correctly when it objected to plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River.
In a decision Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez ruled that the project’s potential benefit to the nation would not outweigh the possible effects on the coastline.
Gutierrez also said that while the project would increase New England’s access to LNG, Coast Guard officials are not convinced LNG tankers could safely navigate a nearby bridge.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who’s against the project, called the developers’ appeal an attempt to circumvent the state.
A spokesman for Weaver’s Cove says the developers expect to file a new application with the state.
Iran, Poland to sign 2-billion-dollar LNG contract
Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC)and Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG) are about to sign a 2-billion-U.S.-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract, local daily Tehran Times reported Sunday.
"Recently Poland requested to invest in Lavan gas field whose volume of gas-in-place is around 10 trillion cubic feet (TCF)," IOOC managing director Mahmoud Zirakchian Zadeh was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"The Polish side has declared its readiness to invest in Persian Gulf's Lavan gas field development plan to export the produced LNG gas to Poland," he added.
Zadeh said that the contract will most probably be finalized.
Poland, which depends on Russia for 48 percent of its gas imports, has made diversification of supply a priority.
In recent months, PGNiG signed several deals that could allow it to import gas from countries such as Libya and Denmark.
Essar plans terminal for LNG and container cargo at West Coast
Live Mint reported that Essar Group is planning to expand its logistics business by building a port terminal for liquefied natural gas and a container cargo facility as well as freight stations and depots under its arm Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics Limited.
The report cited an Essar official as saying that "We are planning to build a port terminal for LNG handling and storage. The group is looking at setting up this facility in the west coast."
He added that expanding into LNG would be a logical extension of the group’s existing port business.
Essar has a port and terminal facility at Vadinar in Gujarat providing handling, storage and terminalling services for crude oil and petroleum products to refineries and traders. It is also setting up a 30 million tonnes per annum all weather port and jetty at Hazira in Gujarat for import of iron ore, pellets, coal, limestone and export of finished steel products. It also proposes to build an integrated terminal at Salaya for handling coal and pet coke used in power plants.
Petrobras and PDVSA make headway on LNG agreement
Brazilian national oil company Petrobras and Venezuelan national company PDVSA have signed agreements committing to negotiate commercial terms for the purchase and sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied by PDVSA.
The agreements set the basis for negotiation between the two companies for future LNG supply agreements. The product will be supplied by two liquefaction units, Tren 1 and Tren 2, that will be built in the Complejo Industrial Gran Mariscal de Ayacuchho in Venezuela.
Petrobras and PDVSA also made progress in the definition of the shareholder agreement and the articles of incorporation for a company that will be incorporated to build and operate the Abreu e Lima refinery in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil.
Jun 27, 2008
LNG News Updates - June 27, 2008
Commerce Dept. overrides objection to LNG plant
The Commerce Department has overridden Maryland's objection to a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point near Baltimore.
The department determined that the national interest served by the facility outweighs what it described as "limited adverse coastal effects."
Governor Martin O'Malley sharply criticized the decision, saying the project presents a homeland security and environmental threat.
Senator Barbara Mikulski pledged to search for legislative options to stop the project.
AES Corporation wants to build the LNG terminal at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard, along with an 88-mile pipeline that would pump the gas to Pennsylvania. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has recommended conditional approval of the project and could make a final decision by the end of November.
Peru natgas project signs financing deal with IFC
June 26 (Reuters) - The World Bank's International Finance Corp on Thursday signed a $300 million financing agreement with Peru LNG to develop Latin America's first liquefied natural gas export project.
The loan by IFC, the World Bank's private-sector lender, is part of $2.25 billion in financing by international banks that were part of the signing.
Other lenders for the $3.8 billion project include the Inter-American Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and SACE of Italy.
The project, which is expected to start up operations in 2010, is being developed by a consortium headed by US-based Hunt Oil and includes Spain's Repsol-YPF, South Korea's SK Energy, and Japan's Marubeni Corp.
Brazil, Venezuela To Sign LNG Supply Deal
The presidents of Brazil and Venezuela will sign a protocol of intention for Brazil to buy liquid natural gas from its Latin American neighbor, the local Estado news agency reported late Thursday.
According to the report, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will sign the deal.
The pact will cover future purchases of liquid natural gas by Brazilian state- run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) from Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. Natural gas will be shipped from Venezuela to two regasification plants in Brazil.
Gasification plants at Pecem in Ceara state and Baia da Guanabara in Rio de Janeiro state will process 20 million cubic meters of gas a day. The plants are expected to enter operation in the third quarter.
Shell Asks for Bids to Help Build a Floating LNG Unit
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, invited three companies to bid for the engineering and design of a floating liquefied natural gas facility.
Bids for the facility with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons will be submitted around the end of the year and the first award is possible next year, The Hague-based Shell said in an e-mailed statement today. Shell is looking at the Asia-Pacific region for potential development, it said.
Shell, the largest non-government producer of LNG, said April 7 its Prelude discovery in the Browse Basin, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) off the Australian coast, may be one of the first fields to be developed using floating LNG technology.
Floating LNG is ``possibly the leading candidate'' for developing Prelude, Linda Cook, executive director gas and power at Shell, said at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Perth in April.
While the Basin holds several gas finds, none has been developed and construction of plants on the Kimberley coast region faces opposition from environmental groups.
The Commerce Department has overridden Maryland's objection to a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point near Baltimore.
The department determined that the national interest served by the facility outweighs what it described as "limited adverse coastal effects."
Governor Martin O'Malley sharply criticized the decision, saying the project presents a homeland security and environmental threat.
Senator Barbara Mikulski pledged to search for legislative options to stop the project.
AES Corporation wants to build the LNG terminal at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard, along with an 88-mile pipeline that would pump the gas to Pennsylvania. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has recommended conditional approval of the project and could make a final decision by the end of November.
Peru natgas project signs financing deal with IFC
June 26 (Reuters) - The World Bank's International Finance Corp on Thursday signed a $300 million financing agreement with Peru LNG to develop Latin America's first liquefied natural gas export project.
The loan by IFC, the World Bank's private-sector lender, is part of $2.25 billion in financing by international banks that were part of the signing.
Other lenders for the $3.8 billion project include the Inter-American Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and SACE of Italy.
The project, which is expected to start up operations in 2010, is being developed by a consortium headed by US-based Hunt Oil and includes Spain's Repsol-YPF, South Korea's SK Energy, and Japan's Marubeni Corp.
Brazil, Venezuela To Sign LNG Supply Deal
The presidents of Brazil and Venezuela will sign a protocol of intention for Brazil to buy liquid natural gas from its Latin American neighbor, the local Estado news agency reported late Thursday.
According to the report, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will sign the deal.
The pact will cover future purchases of liquid natural gas by Brazilian state- run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) from Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. Natural gas will be shipped from Venezuela to two regasification plants in Brazil.
Gasification plants at Pecem in Ceara state and Baia da Guanabara in Rio de Janeiro state will process 20 million cubic meters of gas a day. The plants are expected to enter operation in the third quarter.
Shell Asks for Bids to Help Build a Floating LNG Unit
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, invited three companies to bid for the engineering and design of a floating liquefied natural gas facility.
Bids for the facility with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons will be submitted around the end of the year and the first award is possible next year, The Hague-based Shell said in an e-mailed statement today. Shell is looking at the Asia-Pacific region for potential development, it said.
Shell, the largest non-government producer of LNG, said April 7 its Prelude discovery in the Browse Basin, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) off the Australian coast, may be one of the first fields to be developed using floating LNG technology.
Floating LNG is ``possibly the leading candidate'' for developing Prelude, Linda Cook, executive director gas and power at Shell, said at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Perth in April.
While the Basin holds several gas finds, none has been developed and construction of plants on the Kimberley coast region faces opposition from environmental groups.
Jun 26, 2008
News Updates
GE Energy inks LNG deal with RasGas
June 25, 2008
GE Energy has made a deal to help the nation of Qatar in its quest to become the world's top supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Atlanta-based GE Energy said it has signed a multi-million, multi-year service agreement with RasGas Co. Ltd., covering two LNG trains and Al-Khaleej Gas Plant-2 at RasGas' LNG and gas production complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. An LNG train is a chain of equipment, including a gas turbine, which is used to convert natural gas to liquid form. The process reduces the volume of the gas, making it easier to ship large quantities of LNG to help meet growing energy demands in locations around the world.
The new agreement brings GE's total services commitment at the site to more than $1 billion.
Bangladesh to boost gas output by 20 pct by 2011
Bangladesh will raise its natural gas production by nearly 20 percent by 2011 with new investment of nearly $100 million, a senior official said on Wednesday.
"We will be able to produce 2.15 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the existing 1.8 billion cubic feet over the next more than three years," Jalal Ahmed, chairman of the Bangladesh oil, gas and mineral corporation or Petrobangla told Reuters.
"At least 15 new wells in different gas fields across the country will be explored and developed by the state-run gas firms to produce additional hydrocarbon," Jalal said.
Bangladesh faced a gas shortage of up to 150 million cubic feet daily (mmcfd) which was an obstacle to industrial and economic activities, Jalal said.
Eight gas-fired power plants are out of action and nearly 300 new manufacturing firms at Chittagong port city cannot start production due to lack of gas supply, officials said.
Three state-run gas firms - Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited - produce about 900 mmcfd of gas, half of Bangladesh's total production, they said.
The remainder is produced by four international oil companies (IOCs) - the U.S. based Chevron Corp, British firm Cairn Energy, Irish company Tullow and Canadian company Niko Resources Ltd.
The authorities say they fear further gas shortages by 2011 when daily demand will rise to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day, nearly 34 percent more than now.
Gas Natural gets permit for Trieste LNG plant
Spain's Gas Natural said it had won approval from Italy's Environment Ministry to build a regassifaction plant for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports at the northern Italian port Trieste.
Gas natural and its partners had spent four years seeking environmental approval for the plant, which has an estimated cost of 500 million euros and is due to come on stream in 2012.
The onshore plant will have two tanks each with the capapcity to hold 140,000 cubic metres of LNG and to process 8 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
Gas Natural said it had agreed with Snam Rete Gas to connect the new plant with the Italian gas pipeline network.
Last month, the Barcelona-based company said it was interested in buying local gas distributors in central and southern Italy.
Spain is a major importer of LNG and Gas Natural ran the country's six regasification plans, when it had part or entire control of distribution company Enagas between 1994 and 2002.
Gas natural manages a 115,000 cubic metre regasification plant in Puerto Rico.
Enel in talks with Hoegh LNG to develop LNG ship
Enel SpA is in talks with Norway's Hoegh LNG to jointly develop a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship, a Hoegh spokesman said.
'I can confirm Enel is one of the parties we are talking to as regards the development of our FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel,' the spokesman said.
He said a joint investment of around 1 billion euros could be a reasonable amount for the project.
Hoegh, which is developing its FPSO programme with a series of investors, expects first delivery of the vessel in 2012.
A source said Enel will use the LNG capacity from the ship, when ready, to supply the LNG terminal it is building at Porto Empedocle in Sicily.
The Porto Empedocle facility, which recently received crucial environmental clearance, will have a capacity of 8 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The terminal is expected to receive around 4 billion cubic metres of LNG from Nigeria and 2 billion cubic metres from Egypt.
LNG could hit US$40
As the world thirsts for LNG Trinidad and Tobago stands to benefit as prices go up, according to Dr Ranato Bertani, the former president of Perobas America, a subsidiary of the Brazilian energy giant. Speaking at an energy luncheon hosted by First Citizens at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, Bertani, now president of Thompson and Knight, Global Energy Services, a legal firm that has an appetite for energy deals, predicted that at the present rate of demand LNG prices could hit US$40.
He said this was possible given the fact that energy demand across the globe was rising.
“That is good business for Trinidad and Tobago,” he said of the LNG prices increase.
He pointed out that there could eventually be a convergence of oil and gas prices, if the global energy dynamics don’t change.
The theme of his address was, “The Risks and Opportunities in the Energy Sector.”
According to Bertani, the world will have to spend US$20 trillion by 2030 if it is going to meet the demand for energy.
LNG prices on Monday stood at US$13.23, according to Bloomberg, while oil was at US$137 a barrel. “Oil prices are not going to come down to gas prices but gas will get closer to oil,” he said.
Using a diagram to show the changes in LNG flow, he pointed out that in 2030 the US and Asia will see a significant increase in LNG usage.
He said although there are security concerns across the US regarding the use of LNG, he said they will soon have to re-examine this stance given that the price of oil is rising. He said for a gas economy like TT, this was good news because a market was going to be assured.
He said there could be converge of oil and gas prices and where gas would become a major player in the global energy scenario.
Noting that there could be more demand for LNG from developing countries in the next ten-20 years, Bertani said the supply of LNG will reach the consumer in different ways. His view is that in addition to oil, LNG will play a more significant role in the US energy portfolio, saying that the spot market for LNG will increase.
Such a market occurs when an LNG buyer takes the LNG at an agreed price from a supplier and sells it on the open market to the highest bidder.
He said with LNG prices increasing, this was a possibility and said that this could carry prices further up.
On oil and the world’s demand for it, Bertani said this was not going to change soon. He took the view that the world’s ceiling for oil can be sustained in the US$140- US$150 bracket, adding that after that it becomes unsustainable.
He said at such a price, companies are looking at going after oil that was once considered unattainable.
“There is now pressure to explore and extract,” he said, noting that for oil companies it was now possible to take the risk.
Giving a global overview on energy, he said developing countries like China and India and their increased energy demand is what is pushing up the price of oil. On ethanol, he said this was extremely lucrative and profitable and stressed that with massive tracts of land, the Caribbean could reap the benefits.
To back his case, he said the world consumes about 20 billion tonnes of gasolene a year with half of that being consumed in the US. Stressing that this was a huge opportunity for the Caribbean, Bertani said ethanol coming from the Caribbean into the US would face no tariff.
He said in the case of Brazil, the US has imposed a tariff on ethanol coming into the country.
June 25, 2008
GE Energy has made a deal to help the nation of Qatar in its quest to become the world's top supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Atlanta-based GE Energy said it has signed a multi-million, multi-year service agreement with RasGas Co. Ltd., covering two LNG trains and Al-Khaleej Gas Plant-2 at RasGas' LNG and gas production complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. An LNG train is a chain of equipment, including a gas turbine, which is used to convert natural gas to liquid form. The process reduces the volume of the gas, making it easier to ship large quantities of LNG to help meet growing energy demands in locations around the world.
The new agreement brings GE's total services commitment at the site to more than $1 billion.
Bangladesh to boost gas output by 20 pct by 2011
Bangladesh will raise its natural gas production by nearly 20 percent by 2011 with new investment of nearly $100 million, a senior official said on Wednesday.
"We will be able to produce 2.15 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the existing 1.8 billion cubic feet over the next more than three years," Jalal Ahmed, chairman of the Bangladesh oil, gas and mineral corporation or Petrobangla told Reuters.
"At least 15 new wells in different gas fields across the country will be explored and developed by the state-run gas firms to produce additional hydrocarbon," Jalal said.
Bangladesh faced a gas shortage of up to 150 million cubic feet daily (mmcfd) which was an obstacle to industrial and economic activities, Jalal said.
Eight gas-fired power plants are out of action and nearly 300 new manufacturing firms at Chittagong port city cannot start production due to lack of gas supply, officials said.
Three state-run gas firms - Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited, Sylhet Gas Fields Limited and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited - produce about 900 mmcfd of gas, half of Bangladesh's total production, they said.
The remainder is produced by four international oil companies (IOCs) - the U.S. based Chevron Corp, British firm Cairn Energy, Irish company Tullow and Canadian company Niko Resources Ltd.
The authorities say they fear further gas shortages by 2011 when daily demand will rise to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day, nearly 34 percent more than now.
Gas Natural gets permit for Trieste LNG plant
Spain's Gas Natural said it had won approval from Italy's Environment Ministry to build a regassifaction plant for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports at the northern Italian port Trieste.
Gas natural and its partners had spent four years seeking environmental approval for the plant, which has an estimated cost of 500 million euros and is due to come on stream in 2012.
The onshore plant will have two tanks each with the capapcity to hold 140,000 cubic metres of LNG and to process 8 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
Gas Natural said it had agreed with Snam Rete Gas to connect the new plant with the Italian gas pipeline network.
Last month, the Barcelona-based company said it was interested in buying local gas distributors in central and southern Italy.
Spain is a major importer of LNG and Gas Natural ran the country's six regasification plans, when it had part or entire control of distribution company Enagas between 1994 and 2002.
Gas natural manages a 115,000 cubic metre regasification plant in Puerto Rico.
Enel in talks with Hoegh LNG to develop LNG ship
Enel SpA is in talks with Norway's Hoegh LNG to jointly develop a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship, a Hoegh spokesman said.
'I can confirm Enel is one of the parties we are talking to as regards the development of our FPSO (floating production storage and offloading) vessel,' the spokesman said.
He said a joint investment of around 1 billion euros could be a reasonable amount for the project.
Hoegh, which is developing its FPSO programme with a series of investors, expects first delivery of the vessel in 2012.
A source said Enel will use the LNG capacity from the ship, when ready, to supply the LNG terminal it is building at Porto Empedocle in Sicily.
The Porto Empedocle facility, which recently received crucial environmental clearance, will have a capacity of 8 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
The terminal is expected to receive around 4 billion cubic metres of LNG from Nigeria and 2 billion cubic metres from Egypt.
LNG could hit US$40
As the world thirsts for LNG Trinidad and Tobago stands to benefit as prices go up, according to Dr Ranato Bertani, the former president of Perobas America, a subsidiary of the Brazilian energy giant. Speaking at an energy luncheon hosted by First Citizens at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, Bertani, now president of Thompson and Knight, Global Energy Services, a legal firm that has an appetite for energy deals, predicted that at the present rate of demand LNG prices could hit US$40.
He said this was possible given the fact that energy demand across the globe was rising.
“That is good business for Trinidad and Tobago,” he said of the LNG prices increase.
He pointed out that there could eventually be a convergence of oil and gas prices, if the global energy dynamics don’t change.
The theme of his address was, “The Risks and Opportunities in the Energy Sector.”
According to Bertani, the world will have to spend US$20 trillion by 2030 if it is going to meet the demand for energy.
LNG prices on Monday stood at US$13.23, according to Bloomberg, while oil was at US$137 a barrel. “Oil prices are not going to come down to gas prices but gas will get closer to oil,” he said.
Using a diagram to show the changes in LNG flow, he pointed out that in 2030 the US and Asia will see a significant increase in LNG usage.
He said although there are security concerns across the US regarding the use of LNG, he said they will soon have to re-examine this stance given that the price of oil is rising. He said for a gas economy like TT, this was good news because a market was going to be assured.
He said there could be converge of oil and gas prices and where gas would become a major player in the global energy scenario.
Noting that there could be more demand for LNG from developing countries in the next ten-20 years, Bertani said the supply of LNG will reach the consumer in different ways. His view is that in addition to oil, LNG will play a more significant role in the US energy portfolio, saying that the spot market for LNG will increase.
Such a market occurs when an LNG buyer takes the LNG at an agreed price from a supplier and sells it on the open market to the highest bidder.
He said with LNG prices increasing, this was a possibility and said that this could carry prices further up.
On oil and the world’s demand for it, Bertani said this was not going to change soon. He took the view that the world’s ceiling for oil can be sustained in the US$140- US$150 bracket, adding that after that it becomes unsustainable.
He said at such a price, companies are looking at going after oil that was once considered unattainable.
“There is now pressure to explore and extract,” he said, noting that for oil companies it was now possible to take the risk.
Giving a global overview on energy, he said developing countries like China and India and their increased energy demand is what is pushing up the price of oil. On ethanol, he said this was extremely lucrative and profitable and stressed that with massive tracts of land, the Caribbean could reap the benefits.
To back his case, he said the world consumes about 20 billion tonnes of gasolene a year with half of that being consumed in the US. Stressing that this was a huge opportunity for the Caribbean, Bertani said ethanol coming from the Caribbean into the US would face no tariff.
He said in the case of Brazil, the US has imposed a tariff on ethanol coming into the country.
Jun 24, 2008
Weekly Update
Prime Petroservices to build mini LNG plant worth $327m
Integrated oil and gas service provider PT Prime Petroservices (PPS) plans to build a small liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Bali this year with a total investment of US$327 million. PPS, through its subsidiary PT Indogas Kriya Dwiguna, will build the plant, with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, on Pagerungan Island, north of Bali, the company's president director, Faiz Shahab, told. In comparison, an existing LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, has a capacity of 18.5 million tons per year, while another in Arun, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam, outputs 12.5 million tons annually.
UK's BG makes hostile $13.1 bln Origin bid
British gas producer BG Group launched a hostile $13.1 billion bid for Australia's Origin Energy, as it seeks to boost its position in Asia-Pacific's fast-growing gas market. BG is taking its A$13.8 billion all-cash bid, valuing Origin at A$15.50 a share, direct to Origin shareholders after Origin's board rejected it last month. Origin claimed then that its coal seam gas reserves alone were worth over $15 billion after it doubled its resource estimate to 10,000 petajoules. BG, U.K.'s third-largest oil and natural gas producer, wants Origin's vast gas resources in Australia to feed a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on the east coast, which would help BG fill a hole in its LNG business in the region.
Five planned LNG terminals in Italy move forward
Italy's privately-held Anonima Petroli Italiana SPA, Rome, applied for approval from the country's Environment Ministry for an offshore regasification terminal with an capacity of about 4 billion cu m/year. The facility will be located in the Adriatic Sea in front of Anonima Petroli's Falconara refinery. After converting the LNG, the company will inject the gas into Snam Rete Gas SPA's grid. Construction will take just over 5 months. The news coincided with reports that Gas Natural could win environmental clearance for an 8 billion cu m regasification terminal it wants to develop at Trieste in northern Italy. An official at the environment ministry confirmed that Gas Natural's LNG facility had received positive opinions from a series of subcommittees at the ministry, and it said the project could be approved or a series of observations on the plans could be made. Earlier this month, Iride SPA and CIR SPA's unit Sorgenia SPA said their planned 12 billion cu m regasification terminal at Gioia Tauro, which won environmental approval in April, has been granted access to European Union funding. The Gioia Tauro terminal is due to go online in 2013. In early May, Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's ERG received local authorization to build their planned joint Ionio LNG import terminal in Sicily. The partners hope to begin construction of the import terminal in 2010 and to have it operational by 2013, according to ERG's power and gas division head Raffaele Tognacca. Later in May, following a feasibility study completed early this year on its Triton LNG project 30 km off Italy's Marches region in the Adriatic Sea, Gaz de France signed a joint development agreement with Oslo-based Hoegh LNG for the design, construction, and operation of a floating storage and regasification unit vessel.
Hearing set on offshore LNG terminal After suffering a series of setbacks since receiving conditional federal approval three years ago to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Weaver’s Cove Energy came back this year with an alternative proposal. It would float an off-loading facility in the middle of Mount Hope Bay. Under the new plan, Weaver’s Cove would situate the 1,200-foot berth in Somerset waters, about a mile from the nearest shore. Tankers would dock at the facility and unload LNG, which would be piped to a re-gasification plant at the site in Fall River’s west end originally targeted for the company’s $250-million marine terminal. The 4-mile pipeline connecting to the re-gasification facility would be buried in a trench at the bottom of Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River. Weaver’s Cove came up with the new plan after failing to win approval for key aspects of its initial proposal. In August 2007, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management denied an application to dredge a portion of Mount Hope Bay to clear the way for tanker ships that would travel north from Narragansett Bay.
CNOOC's parent inks 25-year LNG supply pact with Qatargas China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC Group), parent of Hong Kong-listed CNOOC Ltd, said it has signed a 25-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement with Qatargas Operating Co. According to the agreement, the operator of the country's first liquefied natural gas terminal will buy two million metric tons of LNG a year from Qatargas, which will be transported to CNOOC's projected reception station in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, according to sources familiar with the deal. The agreement is a continuation of the unbinding one signed by the two sides in April. In addition, the state-owned oil producer has formed an LNG supply agreement with Total SA, under which the French LNG producer will supply as much as one million metric tons of LNG per year to CNOOC Group from 2010.
BG to supply LNG volumes to Castle Peak's planned Hong Kong terminal
UK-based BG Group's wholly owned subsidiary BG LNG Trading has signed a liquefied natural gas heads of agreement with the Castle Peak Power Company, to supply one million tonnes per annum to the latter's planned import terminal in Hong Kong for a period of up to 20 years.
BG Group And CAPCO Sign Pact For LNG Supply
BG Group has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary BG LNG Trading has signed a Liquefied Natural Gas Heads of Agreement with Castle Peak Power Company, Hong Kong.
Under the proposed arrangement, BGLT have agreed to supply one million tonnes per annum to CAPCO's planned LNG import terminal in Hong Kong for a period of up to 20 years, it said.
Initial deliveries are expected to begin in 2013 to coincide with the completion of the LNG terminal on South Soko Island. The LNG will be sourced from BG Group's growing and flexible global portfolio.
LNG may turn more expensive than crude oil, says Bernstein
Liquefied natural gas may become more expensive than crude oil as demand from Asia and Europe rises faster than supply, Sanford C Bernstein & Co said.
“It’s clear that LNG prices overall are set to rise towards parity with the oil price,” Bernstein analysts led by Neil McMahon said in a report. Sellers of the fuel are renegotiating contracts to increase prices, it said.
Prices may decline in 2009 and early 2010. After this, limited new supplies of LNG between 2010 and 2015 will make market conditions “very tight,” raising the potential of “an LNG premium above the oil price,” the report added.
LNG cargoes have sold for as much as US$20 amn cubic feet this year, Sanford said. Crude oil futures at today’s price of US$136 a barrel are the equivalent of about US$22 amn cubic feet, based on the energy content of the fuels.
The growth of import terminals will outpace the rise in LNG supplies to a point where global regasificaton plant capacity is more than double LNG production by the end of 2010, Bernstein said. Some planned LNG production projects in Nigeria, Australia and Iran will get pushed back into the second half of the next decade, Bernstein added.
Limited growth in alternative energy sources and long lead times for new nuclear power stations will mean demand for LNG grows at more than 10% a year, the report said.
Qatar, already the world’s biggest LNG producer, will boost LNG supplies by 45 million tons a year with six new production trains due to start before the end of 2010.
BG Group, the UK’s third-largest oil and gas company, will benefit the most from rising LNG prices. Bernstein estimates BG is diverting as much as 60% of its cargoes to Asia and 25% to Europe, raising its forecast for BG to 'outperform'.
Integrated oil and gas service provider PT Prime Petroservices (PPS) plans to build a small liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Bali this year with a total investment of US$327 million. PPS, through its subsidiary PT Indogas Kriya Dwiguna, will build the plant, with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year, on Pagerungan Island, north of Bali, the company's president director, Faiz Shahab, told. In comparison, an existing LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, has a capacity of 18.5 million tons per year, while another in Arun, Nangroe Aceh Darussalam, outputs 12.5 million tons annually.
UK's BG makes hostile $13.1 bln Origin bid
British gas producer BG Group launched a hostile $13.1 billion bid for Australia's Origin Energy, as it seeks to boost its position in Asia-Pacific's fast-growing gas market. BG is taking its A$13.8 billion all-cash bid, valuing Origin at A$15.50 a share, direct to Origin shareholders after Origin's board rejected it last month. Origin claimed then that its coal seam gas reserves alone were worth over $15 billion after it doubled its resource estimate to 10,000 petajoules. BG, U.K.'s third-largest oil and natural gas producer, wants Origin's vast gas resources in Australia to feed a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on the east coast, which would help BG fill a hole in its LNG business in the region.
Five planned LNG terminals in Italy move forward
Italy's privately-held Anonima Petroli Italiana SPA, Rome, applied for approval from the country's Environment Ministry for an offshore regasification terminal with an capacity of about 4 billion cu m/year. The facility will be located in the Adriatic Sea in front of Anonima Petroli's Falconara refinery. After converting the LNG, the company will inject the gas into Snam Rete Gas SPA's grid. Construction will take just over 5 months. The news coincided with reports that Gas Natural could win environmental clearance for an 8 billion cu m regasification terminal it wants to develop at Trieste in northern Italy. An official at the environment ministry confirmed that Gas Natural's LNG facility had received positive opinions from a series of subcommittees at the ministry, and it said the project could be approved or a series of observations on the plans could be made. Earlier this month, Iride SPA and CIR SPA's unit Sorgenia SPA said their planned 12 billion cu m regasification terminal at Gioia Tauro, which won environmental approval in April, has been granted access to European Union funding. The Gioia Tauro terminal is due to go online in 2013. In early May, Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's ERG received local authorization to build their planned joint Ionio LNG import terminal in Sicily. The partners hope to begin construction of the import terminal in 2010 and to have it operational by 2013, according to ERG's power and gas division head Raffaele Tognacca. Later in May, following a feasibility study completed early this year on its Triton LNG project 30 km off Italy's Marches region in the Adriatic Sea, Gaz de France signed a joint development agreement with Oslo-based Hoegh LNG for the design, construction, and operation of a floating storage and regasification unit vessel.
Hearing set on offshore LNG terminal After suffering a series of setbacks since receiving conditional federal approval three years ago to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, Weaver’s Cove Energy came back this year with an alternative proposal. It would float an off-loading facility in the middle of Mount Hope Bay. Under the new plan, Weaver’s Cove would situate the 1,200-foot berth in Somerset waters, about a mile from the nearest shore. Tankers would dock at the facility and unload LNG, which would be piped to a re-gasification plant at the site in Fall River’s west end originally targeted for the company’s $250-million marine terminal. The 4-mile pipeline connecting to the re-gasification facility would be buried in a trench at the bottom of Mount Hope Bay and the Taunton River. Weaver’s Cove came up with the new plan after failing to win approval for key aspects of its initial proposal. In August 2007, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management denied an application to dredge a portion of Mount Hope Bay to clear the way for tanker ships that would travel north from Narragansett Bay.
CNOOC's parent inks 25-year LNG supply pact with Qatargas China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC Group), parent of Hong Kong-listed CNOOC Ltd, said it has signed a 25-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply agreement with Qatargas Operating Co. According to the agreement, the operator of the country's first liquefied natural gas terminal will buy two million metric tons of LNG a year from Qatargas, which will be transported to CNOOC's projected reception station in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, according to sources familiar with the deal. The agreement is a continuation of the unbinding one signed by the two sides in April. In addition, the state-owned oil producer has formed an LNG supply agreement with Total SA, under which the French LNG producer will supply as much as one million metric tons of LNG per year to CNOOC Group from 2010.
BG to supply LNG volumes to Castle Peak's planned Hong Kong terminal
UK-based BG Group's wholly owned subsidiary BG LNG Trading has signed a liquefied natural gas heads of agreement with the Castle Peak Power Company, to supply one million tonnes per annum to the latter's planned import terminal in Hong Kong for a period of up to 20 years.
BG Group And CAPCO Sign Pact For LNG Supply
BG Group has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary BG LNG Trading has signed a Liquefied Natural Gas Heads of Agreement with Castle Peak Power Company, Hong Kong.
Under the proposed arrangement, BGLT have agreed to supply one million tonnes per annum to CAPCO's planned LNG import terminal in Hong Kong for a period of up to 20 years, it said.
Initial deliveries are expected to begin in 2013 to coincide with the completion of the LNG terminal on South Soko Island. The LNG will be sourced from BG Group's growing and flexible global portfolio.
LNG may turn more expensive than crude oil, says Bernstein
Liquefied natural gas may become more expensive than crude oil as demand from Asia and Europe rises faster than supply, Sanford C Bernstein & Co said.
“It’s clear that LNG prices overall are set to rise towards parity with the oil price,” Bernstein analysts led by Neil McMahon said in a report. Sellers of the fuel are renegotiating contracts to increase prices, it said.
Prices may decline in 2009 and early 2010. After this, limited new supplies of LNG between 2010 and 2015 will make market conditions “very tight,” raising the potential of “an LNG premium above the oil price,” the report added.
LNG cargoes have sold for as much as US$20 amn cubic feet this year, Sanford said. Crude oil futures at today’s price of US$136 a barrel are the equivalent of about US$22 amn cubic feet, based on the energy content of the fuels.
The growth of import terminals will outpace the rise in LNG supplies to a point where global regasificaton plant capacity is more than double LNG production by the end of 2010, Bernstein said. Some planned LNG production projects in Nigeria, Australia and Iran will get pushed back into the second half of the next decade, Bernstein added.
Limited growth in alternative energy sources and long lead times for new nuclear power stations will mean demand for LNG grows at more than 10% a year, the report said.
Qatar, already the world’s biggest LNG producer, will boost LNG supplies by 45 million tons a year with six new production trains due to start before the end of 2010.
BG Group, the UK’s third-largest oil and gas company, will benefit the most from rising LNG prices. Bernstein estimates BG is diverting as much as 60% of its cargoes to Asia and 25% to Europe, raising its forecast for BG to 'outperform'.
Orascom gets new construction contracts for Skikda LNG Project in Algeria
Orascom Construction Industries ("OCI") confirmed that it has been awarded two construction contracts by Kellogg, Brown & Root International Inc. (“KBR”) for the civil works and piling installation of the new LNG train in Skikda, Algeria being developed by Sonatrach. These contracts represent some of the first packages of the US$ 3 billion Skikda LNG program in Algeria.
Sonatrach is the national oil & gas company of Algeria, wholly owned by the government. It is one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas in its various forms and is Africa’s largest oil & gas company.
The civil works construction contract for the LNG train is expected to be complete in approximately 14 months.
The OCI/Trevi SpA joint venture is responsible for the execution of the piling and installation works expected to be complete in approximately 10 months.
As part of the Q1 2008 results, OCI reported a record consolidated backlog of US$ 6.8 billion as at 31 March.
OCI Construction Group Managing Director, Osama Bishai commented “we are pleased to participate in the LNG expansion program in Algeria for KBR. The contracts are in continuation of the successful work performed by OCI for KBR on the EBIC Ammonia plant and the Damietta LNG facility in Egypt.
The receipt of these contracts further bolsters our successful repeat business with KBR and ensures future cooperation on the projects in the region. These awards are a result of OCI’s significant presence as a construction contractor in Algeria over the past several years and OCI shall continue to pursue opportunities in the oil & gas sector where it has developed significant core competencies.”
Sonatrach is the national oil & gas company of Algeria, wholly owned by the government. It is one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas in its various forms and is Africa’s largest oil & gas company.
The civil works construction contract for the LNG train is expected to be complete in approximately 14 months.
The OCI/Trevi SpA joint venture is responsible for the execution of the piling and installation works expected to be complete in approximately 10 months.
As part of the Q1 2008 results, OCI reported a record consolidated backlog of US$ 6.8 billion as at 31 March.
OCI Construction Group Managing Director, Osama Bishai commented “we are pleased to participate in the LNG expansion program in Algeria for KBR. The contracts are in continuation of the successful work performed by OCI for KBR on the EBIC Ammonia plant and the Damietta LNG facility in Egypt.
The receipt of these contracts further bolsters our successful repeat business with KBR and ensures future cooperation on the projects in the region. These awards are a result of OCI’s significant presence as a construction contractor in Algeria over the past several years and OCI shall continue to pursue opportunities in the oil & gas sector where it has developed significant core competencies.”
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